Springs 8th-Safest for Drivers ; Allstate Crunches Cities' Crash Data

By DEEDEE CORRELL THE GAZETTE

Colorado Springs drivers rank as the eighth-safest in the country, at least in Allstate's estimation.

According to the insurance company's annual study of crash data, drivers here get into traffic crashes less often than drivers in most of the nation's 200 largest cities.

Skeptical?

"I haven't run into anyone yet who thought their city's drivers were good drivers," Allstate Insurance Co. spokeswoman Melissa Morris said. "I don't think anyone ever believes it."

Not even, she said, in Sioux Falls, S.D., which claimed the top spot for the second year in a row. The study found that Sioux Falls motorists average an accident once every 13.7 years, 27 percent better than the national rate of one every 10 years.

Colorado Springs drivers -- who ranked ninth last year and 13th in 2005 -- average 12.7 years between crashes.

Fort Collins was in second place, followed by Flint, Mich.; Warren, Mich.; Huntsville, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Colorado Springs; Milwaukee; and Des Moines, Iowa.

Researchers with Allstate, which claims a 12 percent market share of the nation's auto insurance policies, analyzed two years of internal crash data in 200 cities with populations of at least 100,000.

They studied about 2 million damage claims, defined as any collision resulting in property damage, filed from January 2004 to December 2005. That's a broad enough period to limit the influence of external factors such as weather and road construction, researchers said.

A weighted average of the two-year numbers determined the annual percentages.

Allstate planned to give away free gas today at stations in Warren and Sioux Falls to reward residents for their rankings.

Colorado Springs will have to settle for appreciating some other statistics, such as a reduction in accident reports this year.

Crashes citywide are down by 14.5 percent at this point in the year, compared with the five-year average, Colorado Springs police spokesman Lt. Skip Arms said.

But considering that drivers had gotten into more than 4,000 crashes as of June 2, perhaps they shouldn't rest on their laurels just yet.

"There's certainly still room for improvement," Arms said.

BIGGER CITIES

Safest cities with 500,000 to 1 million residents

1. Milwaukee, 12.7

2. Detroit, 11.6

3. Louisville, Ky., 11.5

4. Memphis, Tenn., 11.2

5. Nashville, Tenn., 11.1

6. Denver, 10.9

7. Indianapolis, 10.7

8. Tucson, Ariz., 10.4

9. El Paso, Texas, 10.4

10. Oklahoma City, 10.4

THIS YEAR'S RESULTS

The top 10 safest cities overall, listed by average years between crashes: 1. Sioux Falls, S.D., 13.7

2. Fort Collins, 13.6

3. Flint, Mich., 13.4

4. Warren, Mich., 13.3

5. Huntsville, Ala., 13.1

6. Knoxville, Tenn., 13.0

7. Chattanooga, Tenn., 12.9

8. Colorado Springs, 12.7

9. Milwaukee, 12.7

10. Des Moines, Iowa, 12.6

(c) 2007 Gazette, The; Colorado Springs, Colo.. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.